Week 39 - WTA Premier 5 ($2.6M) - Wuhan, China Hard

Julia Carrot · All-time great

Week 39 - WTA Premier 5 ($2.6M) - Wuhan, China Hard

PaulM · Tennis legend

Petra is unplayable. She's been so, so, so good this week.

2-3*

Peter too · Tennis legend

QF: KONTA, Johanna (GBR) 11 13 lost to KVITOVA, Petra (CZE) 14 16 3-6 4-6

PaulM · Tennis legend

Absolutely stunning from Kvitova, who wins 63 64.

With Sveta winning today, and Cibulkova with a good chance of taking a second win later on tonigh, I suspect Jo is pretty much out of the running for Singapore realistically, unless she goes very late into Beijing and those two lose their openers.

tony_orient · ATP qualifying

Sounds like Jo ran into an unstoppable force in Kvitova today. Great to see Petra playing well again, in general, but not so good she did it today.

Jo will probably be relying on other results and withdrawals to make the start list for Singapore but she could get there as an alternate otherwise.

philwrig · Hall of fame

Just too good, I thought PK would be a little fatigued after yesterday, but when she's in that form, it doesn't really matter.

the addict · Tennis legend

Kvitova showing fantastic form - just beaten Halep 6-1 6-2 to follow up her 3-set win over Kerber

-- Edited by the addict on Friday 30th of September 2016 12:23:25 PM

JonH · All-time great

Apologies for writing this here, but I couldnt work out where else to go - it also isnt a GB tennis question, but I hope no one gets offended

I noticed Sania Mirza has reached 11th in the WTA Finals Doubles Race and is also in the Wuhan final - with a win she will reach 9th. Given her form it is quite possible she will do well in Beijing and maybe beyond and qualify into the top 8 pairs with Strycova. The only issue is that she is already qualified with Martina Hingis!

So the question I have is what will happen if that situation arises?? I guess it hasn't happened before? Sania and Martina would be higher ranked so presumably morally she should play with Martina. But Sania and Strycova are the new pairing and in form and maybe she would prefer to play that pairing? Whoever she chooses or is told to play with, presumably the other player left in limbo will get to play with someone else or will the 9th pairing come into play??

Anyone have any ideas how it will all work??

indiana · Tennis legend

I guess re the race the best thing to come out is that 8th and 9th didn't really stretch away.

Keys now 8th made the QF like Jo, and is just over 300 points ahead of Jo ( just gone slightly further ahead because Jo had a higher 16th best ), Suarez Navarro now 9th was kept to the L16 by Jo herself and is about 220 ahead and Kuznetsova, semi finalist, has passed Jo into 10th, but just about 50 ahead.

So although Cibulkova in 7th ( possibly 6th after her final ) has stretched away, limiting the options, so really now making it look like a one from rather than a two from, Jo is in essence still just about as close to 8th as before Wuhan. Main issue is that it is a further big tournament ticked off and still that gap with 3 weeks left and just one particularly big scoring tournament left.

Petra is slightly looming behind, especially if she wins the final here, though would need another very big week next week.

So it's tough, but particular best luck to Keys and Suarez Navarro's opponents and go Jo !

-- Edited by indiana on Saturday 1st of October 2016 12:27:38 AM

indiana · Tennis legend

Interesting one, JonH, says he not having any particular answers.

blob · All-time great

indiana wrote:
Interesting one, JonH, says he not having any particular answers.

WTA have commented on it, in effect, Sania gets to pick.

You don't have to play as a duo even if qualified. You could decide not to play at all if you wanted to, as a team or if only one half of a duo did not want to, or could not play.

So in choosing not to play with one partner and selecting the other gives Sania the deciding vote.

When Santina split, they said they would play the Finals together. That might have been just because they didn't think they would have been otherwise qualified; hard to say.

JonH · All-time great

Thanks blob - interesting, so if mirza qualifies and plays with strycova ( and why wouldn't she) who then would hingis pick? One of the 9 th pair, the highest ranked player not qualified on individual rankings or her best mate? All hypothetical just now if course

blob · All-time great

You qualify as a pair, not as an individual.
If Sania qualifies with, and chooses, Barbora, Martina doesn't get to play: she has no other qualified pairing.
The WTA does have an exceptional circumstances clause allowing them to over-ride this, and pick players at their discretion, similar to the one someone posted about the singles recently.

Oh, and Petra was awesome this week! So good to see her on form. When she's zoned in like this week, only Serena in very good form is better (maybe uber-peak Vika?).
Jo played her much better than an in form Simo, or Domi (probably pretty fatigued given her tough route to the final tbf) managed, and not just in terms of the score.

christ · Futures level

So theoretically the eight qualified pairs could all split and choose new partners, and turn up as sixteen pairs?

RBBOT · Futures qualifying

No, in that scenario, assuming blob is correct, the 9th-16th pairs would qualify and 1st-8th wouldn't be there unless they also appeared in the 9th-16th. Going to the other extreme, if there was a lot of partner swapping the top 8 pairs could be only 5 people, in case any 4 of them as 2 pairs would play and the next 6 pairs not involving them.